Cookies n Cream Ice Cream

As much as I love Seattle weather (I'm a sucker for pouring rain and snuggling up indoors), I'm looking forward to this Spring and Summer.  I know a lot of that has to do with a little certain someone due at the end of May, but I'm also enjoying the lighting at night to snap photos of my latest kitchen adventures.

Last night I decided to make this Cookies n Cream Ice Cream recipe.  Kyle is a sucker for Oreos (loves them!) so I knew he would be excited to try this recipe.  The only bad thing about making ice cream is you have to be patient, it's definitely a process.  It's like baking bread.  The actual time spent preparing the dish isn't that long, but the time to consumption is usually a couple of hours.  With ice cream you really need to let it ripen in the freezer. 

Well Kyle and I were not patient and decided to test the ice cream out in its soft-frozen state last night (and don't get me wrong, it tasted great), but it tasted much better (and more like the consistency you expect from ice cream) today. 

This bowl of ice cream may or may not have been sacrificed before dinner, ahem.

I had a full night of cooking last night (three separate entrees, some granola, ice cream, and a breakfast casserole (I know!)), but tonight I plan to take it easy.  I'm going to grill some burgers, bake homemade potato wedges, and try my luck at some garbanzo chips using a recipe I received at Whole Foods on Saturday when I bought a large bag of dried beans from a local farmer.

Cookies n Cream Ice Cream
Makes about 1.5 pints

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
15-20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat.  Heat until bubbles form around the edges.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth and well combined. Slowly add the warm milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 5-8 minutes, until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon (about 175 degrees F on an instant read thermometer).  Pour the liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until completely chilled.

Once the mixture is well chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions (I use the Kitchen Aid attachment and it took about 25 minutes).  Once the mixture is softly frozen, transfer half of it to a storage container.  Add half of the chopped Oreo pieces and fold in gently with a rubber spatula.  Add the remaining ice cream and Oreo pieces to the container, and fold once more until the mixture is evenly combined.  Freeze until completely hardened.

Source: Annie's Eats